Dash Cams

[AlexanderG]

Hello all from Bristol, I have an Avensis Bus Ed + Est 1.6DM 17 plate. Looking for experiences and advice on hard-wired dash cams, fwd and rear, for my car. Thanks in advance.

Alexander. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Moved to the Avensis club.

[Guest]

I'd recommend the Nextbase dash cams - solid quality / longevity (so far mine is 2 years old, have heard horror stories of friends who reckon you need to replace them before that..).  522GW is what I have, plus the rear view module. A ping-pong ball sized rear camera.

Nextbase also sell a hardwire kit, available at Halfords and the likes easily enough. Clear instructions, uses a piggybacker on one of the fuses. I've wired it into two cars in the past no issue, and tucked the wires in along the inside of the A pillar trim, and then routed the rear cam wire above the door seal rubber around to the back. Make sure you get the low-profile hardwire kit ending! As the regular won't fit / work with the Avensis - and from what I can gather most modern Toyota's.

Avensis Specific Stuff

I was able to route the wiring in alright in the Avensis the other week (only had it a couple of weeks).  it's clean and neat enough to look at.  The issue I'm facing at the minute is, I've bought a newer low profile fuse ending for the wire in kit, and it now fits fine , I've put it in Fuse 25 (the cigarette lighter fuse) and nothing. No power... I'm waiting for some help on a dedicated thread and I'll report back if I get any joy from this.

The other thing is , the fuse box lid gives no space as on most cars, so if you use this method you'll need to find somewhere secure to keep it in the car for when needed. I don't think there's any risk to the integrity or safety of the fuse box missing the plastic cover, but you'll be lost without the diagram printed on it in the future if a fuse blows.  The low profile fuses are a NIGHTMARE to get out. My normal platic fuse puller hasn't a hope, I've wedged mine out with my key but it's not a good idea.

Someone mentioned splicing into the wire under the centre console under the cigarette lighter, due to the fuse box having no room but they said it involves taking apart the lower dash and centre console and personally I'd prefer not to tamper with that. But it's an option you should consider and hopefully someone can detail.

[venomx]

Nextbase from Halfords is a good choice. They will even come and fit it for you at your house if you pay a bit extra

[Roy124]

Venomx, any price for fitment?  My dealer fitted mine at the outset 

[venomx]

2 hours ago, Roy124 said:

Venomx, any price for fitment?  My dealer fitted mine at the outset 

£50 I think. Which included the " Hardwire kit" and installation

[Cyker]

I've always liked the Viofo dashcams; They're quite well regarded on the dashcamtalk forums.

 

[Bernard Foy]

I’d recommend Nextbase mine is three years old now, and on it’s second car. I have ordered a new 2022 Yaris Hybrid and the dealership will transfer it to the new car (Whenever It Arrives) hopefully ASAP.

[2009joe]

im going to buy this kit supposed to be the best 

https://www.halfords.com/technology/dash-cams/nextbase-522gw-front-and-rear-dash-cam-bundle-450454.html

[Catlover]

It might be expensive, but what makes it the best?

[2009joe]

54 minutes ago, Catlover said:

It might be expensive, but what makes it the best?

Nextbase 522gw front and rear

[Cessna]

I can recommend the Nextbase 380GWX front and rear Dashcam that Toyota dealers supply and fit for £350. Probably not the cheapest, but the video quality is excellent, the units (front and rear) are very small indeed, and there is peace of mind having it fitted by a Toyota dealer. I think they also supply and fit the front Dashcam only for £250, but I wanted the extra peace of mind of a rear unit as well.

[Big_D]

Nextbase are brilliant. All our cars are fitted with them. Quality is excellent and their customer service is top notch.

[Konrad C]

I am using a Nextbase 222X front and rear (not as good as the higher spec units, but gives good video recordings. 

The biggest mistake that I see from some Dashcam users, is having the screen on and not in screen saver mode. It can be a distraction, causes more heat to the cam, draws more power and the police can force the user to stop using the Dashcam until the screen is off, or the camera positioned away from the driver. It happened to my friend who was stopped by police for having the screen on!
He also had his Nextbase 312 hardwired by Halfords into a permanent power feed so it was never off. This corrupted and destroyed the memory card, because it was in loop mode and overheated. He had ask me to retrieve some footage, but it was beyond repair, both Dashcam and memory card. 
All dashcams should be on at least accessory power, not permanent unless design as such, regardless if plugged in or hardwired. They will have parking mode. During use, the screen should switch off after a period of seconds, depending on settings. Garmin call it screen saver mode. Get the biggest and suitable memory card for your needs - long journeys. If buying a memory card, buy it from a reputable source and avoid eBay! Back up footage if you need to. Every so often, format the memory card to keep it fresh. This will reduce the chance of corrupted files, especially in loop mode with continuous overwriting. Location of the cam is important. Front and rear or more cams are better.

Most important, read the manual. Last thing you need, is not having the vital evidence, because something was not right with the dashcam or memory card!

 

[2009joe]

On 1/24/2022 at 12:03 PM, FROSTYBALLS said:

Moved to the Avensis club.

when someone puts up a post and u say moved to the avensis club what do you mean as tbh sure the post is put up in the avensis club forum 

[Cyker]

I'd say, if you're a hardened road warrior, get one of the more expensive MLC microsd cards that are rated for continuous use, not the normal cheaper TLC/QLC ones, as they will get burnt out very quickly - I used to use 256GB Sandisk Ultra and Extreme cards (Whatever was on sale on Amazon basically  ) and with the hours of driving I do they rarely lasted more than a year and a half before write speeds deteriorated below the minimum required by the camera and were also usually scattered with sectors that wouldn't write properly. (So basically toasted)

Swapped it for one of their Max Endurance ones and it's been through 3 cars and is still working! They also have the advantage that the warranty is still valid (Using the Ultra and Extreme ones in a Dashcam voids the warranty...)

Try to get one during a sale tho' as normally they are 3x+ the cost of the regular microSD cards!  

[Roy124]

I used Nextbase cards supplied with the Camera.  One would not re record and stoppef when full.  They replaced the card and it had worked properly for over 12,000 miles. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

1 hour ago, 2009joe said:

when someone puts up a post and u say moved to the avensis club what do you mean as tbh sure the post is put up in the avensis club forum 

It means I've moved the topic from its original posting in one forum to a more appropriate forum.

For example this topic was originally in New Member Introductions, and, as it is asking for information on dash cams for the Avensis, I moved the topic to the Avensis club.